Mechanical stoker for locomotives.



- E. YOUNG.

MECHANICALSTOKER FOR LOCOMOTIVES.

APPLICATION FILED 001.25. 1913.

Patented Aug. 3, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

3 noeMop 31 2a x J 6 a9 Ilia/card u my E. YOUNG.

MECHANICAL STOKER FOR LOCOMOTIVES.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 25' I913.

Patented Aug. 3, 1915.

2 suscrs-sn'sn 2.

- zen of the United EDWARD YOUNG, F PONY LAKE, NEBRASKA.

MECHANICAL fS'IOKER FOR LOCOMOTIVES.

1,148,735. Application filed October 25,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD Yomw, citi- States,.residing at Pony Lake, in the county of Rock and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mechanical Stokers for Locomotives, of which the following is a 'ecification.

y invention relates to appliances for stokingfurnaces, and particularly to mechanism for stoking locomotive furnaces.

The primary object of my invention is the i rovision of a very simple mechanical stoker esigned to discharge coal into the fire box of a locomotive without the necessity of opening the door leading thereto.

A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby. the direction in which the coal is discharged may be controlled.

A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby the coal discharged from the stoker may be directed either to the right or left of the fire box, and to provide independent means for discharging thecoal either directly downward or toward the front of the fire box.

" A'still further object of the invention. is

to provide means whereby the coal may be discharged from the stoker at varying velocities so as to throw the coal either to the forward end of the furnace or the rear end thereof, and a still "further object is to pro- ,vide mechanism entirely within the control of the fireman whereby the speed of the stoker and the direction of its movement may be controlled.

ther objects will appear in the course of the following description. My'invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, wherein Figure .1 is a vertical'longitudinal sec-- tion' of the rear portion of a locomotive,-my. improved stoker being shown in section; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the stoking mechanism. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the 'stoker illustrated. in

Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Fig. 5 is a plan-view of the means for operating the stoker with parts in section. Fig. 6 is a detail view-of the shaft 6 with one of the gears thereon in'section.

' Gorrespondlng and like parts are referred.

- min the following description and indicated Specification of Letters Patent.

, axis of the door Patented Aug. 3, 1915. 1913. Serial No. 797,226.

in all theviews of the accompanying drawings by the same reference characters.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the locomotive to which the stoker is applied is of the usual type and includes the cab A, the furnace B having the usual fire box and grate, and the inner and outer crown sheets 0 and E. All these parts are of any usual or ordispecial construction of locomotive.

Mounted upon boiler is a casing 2 which may be made of any suitable refractory material and is illustrated as made of metal. This casing is in the form of a relatively wide and relatively shallow box, the rear end of the box being curved in the arc of a circle, the forward end of the. box beingopen. The box is formed of the upper and lower members 3 and 4 and the vertical wall 5 flaring outward at its forward ends.

Paming up into the box and mounted in suitable bearings therein is a shaft 6 carrying a plurality of radiating blades 7 illustrated as four in number, though I do not wish to limit myself to this number. These blades as illustrated arearranged in quartering portion of the wall 5 is curved concentrically to the shaft 6. The blades 7 have a height approximately equal to the depth of the easm its previously stated, the forward end of the casing is open and this forward end of the casing pro ects through the'crown sheets Cand D, and opens into the furnace B above the, ate thereof. Hingedly mounted upon the orward open end of the casing 2 is the gate or .door 8 having a width equal to the width of the open end of the casing and having an arm 9 extending above the hinged from which rearwardly extends a connecting rod 10 into the cab where it is connected to a lever 11 pivotally supported in any suitable manner. The link' or connecting rod 10 may pass through a thimble 12 disposed between the sheets C'and D. preferred means may be employed for holding-the lever'set in any adjusted position. By actuating the lever in one direction, the door 8 may be turned upon its axis to raise it the .deck E in front of the D. The-deck of the cabis designated nary construction and I do not wish to be j hmited to any to any required degree. When the door 8 is raised to a horizontal position, the coal discha ed from the casing will be thrown forward so as to be'discharged upon the forward portion of the fire box.- Whenthe door is in the' positionlshown'in, Fig. 1- and is inclined downward and forward, the coal will be discharged downward andforward upon the'grate. It will thus be seen that this door 8 provides means for disthem hingedly mounted ends of the wall 5.

' width of the furnace and charging the coal-either upon the front or, rear portion of the fire box. l

The casing 2 hasa width smaller than the fore be provided for discharging the coal. laterally to one side or the other 'fromthe discharge end of the'ca'sing. Fer this pur pose I provide the deflectors 13, each; of at the forward'end of the wall 5. These deflectors when closed extend as illustrated in full lines in Fig. 2 to the door 8 and-form continuationsof the These deflectors. may however, be rocked upon their bearings to the position shown in. dotted lines in Fig.-

2. To this endthe upper plate'3jof the casing 2 is formed with arcuate slots 14 and the forward edgeof each door is formed with a pin 15 whichpasses npthrou h. the

2, it-will be seen that the coa corresponding slot and .is connecte to a transversely extending. link 16. This link is operatively connected to a lever 17 or other suitable actua ing. moans disposed within the cab. By shifting this lever to the right 7 or to the left, both 35/ deflectors will be swung simultaneously either to the right or' to the left from a position where they form continuations ,of the wall 5. When swung to the position shown by dottedilines in Fig. will'be discharged'to the left of the 'fire box, while when swung in the reverse direction the coal will be discharged to-the right. Of course, the .forward end of the vertical wall of the casing must be outwardly flared to accommodate the oscillations of the deflectors, as illustrated in- Fig. 2, these outwardly flared portions being designated 18.

, The top of the-casing at its'rear end is formed with-the opening 19 and hopper 20 whereby coal-mav be delivered by the fire-3. man into the-casing .2 and engaged. by the blade 7.

. Wh jIe I do not wish to limit myself to any ' standing still mechanism and either into the forward p that the stoker .trated the shaft 6 as being wheels 28 as mounted loosely dropping by any convenient j these gear wheels,

dinally" shiftable smaller in diameter on one sideo the'gear wheel 28 to the shaft 6 for rota-" the shaft will rotate in the will be given to the shaft I I I '1 V box or'into the rear portion thereofand so may cast either to the left or to the right. To this end I have illus-' driven by a pair of steam cy ders 21, each 22, the'piston being formed with teeth 23.

24 designates the valve casing controlling the admission of steam to the cylinders 21 and Within this casing operates a valve controlled by a valve rod 25 whicgpxtends outward and is connected to'a pi ted arm 26 which is oscillated by ,en agement with. means must theret? the spaced pins 27 on the ro 22, in a man'- ner which will be wellunderstood by those ,cognizantof the art. F

' It will be. any

tween the piston rods 22 andthe shaft 6 so that a reciprocationof'the piston rods will cause the rotation of the shaft 6 in one di-' rection only. 7

While I as not as to 'limitmys'elf to any special mechanism for his purpose, I have illustrated upper and lower gear 6 and these wheels may beqheld against Each of as illustrated clearly iii Figs. '5 and 6 is formed'uponone side with collars secured upon the shaft.

a semi-circular recess 29 eccentric to theopening through which the shaft 6. passes. h s recess is crescent shaped. A longituft 6 'in connection, with mounted on the s wheels 28 and is shifteach ofthe toothe able into ofrout of in the space 29 .is 'a' .ball 31-, this ball being thaIr -th'ewidest 'tion of the s ace :29." When the ball 31-i's f the partition 30 it will clamp tion in one direction but'will freefthe wheel 28 from engagement theshaft 6 upon a rotation of the gear wheel in an opposite direction When, however, posed on the opposite side of the partition 30 having a piston v I ions that some form of ratchet mechanism must, be provided fbeupon the shaft means, such as partition 30 is shiftablythespace '29. Located porthe ball-31 is disit willexert a reverse binding action. It will thereforebe seen from Fig. 5,"for instance,

that upon an outward movement. of the piston-in the direction of the arrow, the shaft 6 and gear wheel 28 will be' freed from engagement with each other but" that upon aniinwiard movement of directionopposite to the 'arrow, the Wheel 28 will be locked to t ear shaft 6 nd irection of the curved arrow.- J The ,pistons inders operate alternatelyto therefore a. practically continuous'rotation ing upon the amount of steamA-admitted to the" cylinders 21. For the purpose of reversing the direction of shaft 6 provide each the piston in the movement of the partition with a.

of-the twoa cjvlf I each other; and

.125 at a-speed depend-L shipper sleeve 32, the shipper sleeve being connected by means of a yoke 33, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4, this yoke being connected to a lever 34, in turn connected to a handle 35 extending up into the cab of' the engine. When it is desired to rotate the shaft in one direction, the handle 35 is operated to shift the partitions-30 out of the Spaces 29. Immediately that this occurs the balls will roll-into the end of the spaces 29 on the other side of the partition. The partitions are then again closed or inserted within-the space 29, whereupon the balls will reversely engage the gear wheels of the shaft and the shaft will be rotated in a reverse direction. The speed of rotation of the shaft may be controlled by a throttle valve 36 operated within the cab and operatively controlling steam to the cylinder 21.

The operation of my invention will be obvious from what has gone before. tinuous rotary motion is preferably given to the blades 7, though it is, of course, obvious that the blades may be rotated only the supply of when desired. Coal is thrown into the hopper 20 and if the door 8 will be ejected through the discharge end of'the casing onto the fire and the direction in which the coal will be ejected will be controlled by the door 8 and by the deflectors 13. It will be seen that the blades 7 form a closure for the casing and therefore that there can be no back draft at any time if the blades 7 be still. rotating, however,

be open, this coal will not cause any'back draft. Thus there is no necessity for opening in order to stoke the furnace. Inasmuch as the casing 2 is disposed beneath the usual fire door 27, it'will be obvious that if the mechanism breaks down, the furnace may be stoked in the usual way. the speed of rotation of the blades 7 it is possible to cast the coal either into the forward portion of the fire box into the middle thereof or the rear end of the fire box, and this will, of course,'be assisted by the door 8. if it is desired to discharge the coal toward the side of the fire box, the deflectors are coal will be discharged on that side.

The advantages of my invention reside in the fact that by this cure a more uniform distribution of the is hand stoked,

coal than is possible where the goalis shoveled into the furnace, that the operation of stoking is much more fireman is relieved of very labor uniformly :spread, the coal is used more economically than is possible where the coal While I have illustrated what I believe to Con-- end of the casing, to the upper wall'of the casing at the open When the blades 7 are p it is obvious that they the furnace door- By. controlling through said slots,",;-a

mechanism I can se-' rapid,'that the, heavy manual and that inasmuch as the coal is more be the best form of my invention, I do not' wish to be limited to this as it is obvious that the construction may be varied in many Ways-without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a locomotive including a cab and a fire box, of a" casing mounted in connection with the fire box and having an open end extending into the fire box, said casing having an aperture opening into the cab, a vertically disposed shaft in the casing, radially disposed vanes on the shaft, means swinging door within the fire box hingedly mounted at its upper end to the open end of the casing, means extendinginto the cab for operating said swinging door, laterally disposed deflectors within the fire box mounted upon the casing atits open 'end in rear of said door, said deflectors being connected to each other externally of the casing for simultaneous movement in the same direction, and means disposed within the cab for operating said deflectors.

for rotating said shaft, a

2. A mechanical stoker including a casing fuel and discharging it through the'open a door hingedly secured end thereof and adapted to cover said end, means on top of the casing forangularly adjusting the door, lateral deflectors forming the sides of the casing at the open end thereof adjacent andin rear .of said door and shiftable to a position of. angularity with respect to the rear side walls of the casing, and means on top of the casing for shifting said deflectors.

3. A mechanical Stoker comprising a casing having an open end, horizontally swinging deflectors pivotally mounted adjacent the open end of the casing and forming the sides thereof at said end, the casing being provided in a horizontal wall with arcuate slots arranged concentrically with the pivots of the respective deflectors, pins extending from the, respective deflectors link external to said casing connecting said pins, means mounted on the casing acting on said link to move said deflectors simultaneously onth eir pivots, and means within the casing "for discharging fuel past said deflectors and through/the open end of the easing.

4. The combinationof a casing having an arcuate closed rear end, closed. sides and an open front end and provided with a feed opening in its top adjacent its arcuate end, a verti'calfshaft in the casing concentric with the arcuate. end thereof, radial vanes carriedby said shaft to move past the feed "opening below the same, casing to rotate said sh the casing to control the tion of rotation of the sha at its upper edge at the open front top of the casin flectors" mounted.-

pivots adjacent t means below the the aft, means-below top speed and direc: ft, a door hinged to the top of the 'casing end thereof, means on'the to adjust said door, deinth'e casing-by vertical he open front end and at Witnessessides of thecasing, and meenson the 0 of the casing for swingingf said deflectors laterally simultaneously. In testimony whereof I' afiix thy-signature v in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD YOUNG. [ms] HENRY Aomn'gr 'F.BROWN. v I. 

